Indonesia Plans $1.7 Billion 1,100Km Borneo-Java Gas Pipeline

Indonesia plans to build a $1.7 billion natural gas pipeline from East Kalimantan province to the country's most populous island of Java to meet rising energy demand, the head of the state gas company said.

The pipeline will span eleven hundred kilometers (660 miles) between East Kalimantan on Borneo Island and East Java, said W.M.P. Simandjuntak, The President Director, or Chief Executive Officer, of the state owned PT Perusahaan Gas Negara. There will be another 600 kilometers of pipe to supply the gas to West Java, where the capital Jakarta is located.

“We are looking for foreign partners and plan to start construction some time in 2005,” Simandjuntak said in an interview after attending the Indonesian International Oil, Gas & Energy Exhibition. “We plan to complete the pipeline in 2008.”

Java, home to more than half of Indonesia's 210 million people, needs more gas to fuel homes and power plants as economic growth picks up in the country. Java and Bali, Indonesia's two most populated islands, could face blackouts by 2004 without new power plants because demand growth may outstrip supply, the government said.